Shift
by Bip-Bop-Boop
Summary: Emma and her entire family have been Slytherins. But what happens when everyone finds out she isn't the perfect little pureblood she pretended to be? Throw in some Death Eaters and the Marauders and you've got one hell of a year.
1. Chapter 1

Welll welcome to my story! I've been writing this for a while, but I'm still not necessarily sure that I like the way the first chapter turned out. I'd be very happy if you reviewed, even if you don't like it. Constructive criticism is always good.  
I actually started it when I was six years old. Of course, it was written on printer paper, set during Chamber of Secrets, with marker illustrations and no quotation marks, but the workings and basic plot were all there. So here it is, completely rewritten. :D

* * *

My parents never had the pushy 'you _must_ be a Slytherin!' attitude, but the idea of me _not_ being in Slytherin never came up. I mean, my parents had been in Slytherin, as well as my sister and brother. All my aunts and uncles were Slytherins, too, except for Lida the Hufflepuff but she was always a bit odd anyways. So as soon as I got to being Sorted I expected the Hat to put in me in Slytherin like _that_.

There I was, sitting in the Great Hall with the Sorting Hat covering half my face. It obstructed everything from sight, but I could practically _hear_ the expectant gazes of my brother and sister, Madden and Abbey. They were smiling, sure that I was about to join them at their table.

But the hat told me I wasn't fit for Slytherin.

That was a shock worse than the Giant Squid greeting us at the lake. Not… fit… for _Slytherin?_ That couldn't be right, but there was the Hat was prattling on about all my un-Slytheriny traits. Of course, I freaked. I told it straight out that I was supposed to be there, that I was a Slytherin through and through.

After arguing with it for a minute it relented, and off to the land of silver and emerald I went.

Being Slytherin was great- I felt like I was part of some elite part of the school. Except we were completely segregated from everyone else; it was like, "we're pureblood, we're proud, get out of our sight or we'll hex you."

Putting it bluntly: I hated it.

But what was I gonna do? Speak my mind and get hexed by Bellatrix Black and her friends? No way. I kept my mouth shut and faked it. That way, I made friends. That way I fit in. I was apparently always making "odd comments", but at least I wasn't being gossiped about as a deranged blood traitor, like Bellatrix and Cissy did about their cousin Sirius or their sister Andromeda.

I was one of the cool Slytherin girls, which was good enough for me to look past everything I didn't like.

My best friend was Cissy Black, along with our year mates Zurie, Maia and Jessica. But during my first year I hung out with people from other Houses, mostly Lily Evans and sometimes her friends.

"You're just like _Severus_." Cissy would tell me, all disapproving. "Why do you hang out with Lily and her lot? You're better then them, Emma!"

Eventually, I gave in to the pressure and became a total Slytherin. As I said before, I hated it, but what was I supposed to do? When there's Blacks and Malfoys and Carrows breathing down you back every time you act a little un-Slytherin (which started translating to un-Death Eaterly) it's hard to stand up for what you believe in.

Predictably, I started to snap.

It began in our fifth year; Cissy and I were walking back to the castle from the Greenhouses after Herbology. There had been a blizzard the weekend before, and the grounds were covered in a soft blanket of snow. A few Hufflepuff girls were laughing as threw snowballs at each other.

"You know _every single_ Hufflepuff in our year is a Mudblood, 'cept for one?" Cissy sniffed. "Uh-huh. It's so depressing. Where is this school _going_?"

I shifted uncomfortably. "You don't have to call them that, Cissy."

She looked confused.

"Mudblood." I explained. "Why do you have to say that _all_ the _time_? You can't judge people just because they're _born._"

She looked really put-off for a moment. "Well, they all think they're _sooo_ smart and cool just because she gets to join the ranks of us magical ones. Well, they're like, flukes! Muggles shouldn't have magic kids! They're like, _lesser beings_."

"But why?" I asked. "So maybe muggles _are_ inferior, I don't know, but why does that make muggle-born witches and wizards so bad?"

She threw her hands up. "I don't _know,_ Emma, it just does!"

I stopped walking. "So you're just going to go along with it?"

She stopped too. "Yes! Because that's the way it's meant to be! You know that, right?".

My stomach dropped. I nodded, my throat closed up, and managed an "mmhm."

Even a while after that conversation, I couldn't forget what she had said. "That's the way it's meant to be". It didn't seem right at _all._ I started hanging out with my Housemates less and started spending more time to myself. I told them I was just focusing on my studies more, as OWLS were coming up, which was a sufficient answer to them. I thought that Madden, my brother, might have picked up on something, but he was more interested in his girlfriend Georgina than anything else.

As I became more removed from the other Slytherins, I learned to listen to their conversations as an outsider. I became completely disgusted with myself for ever taking part in them. Like when a few guys cursed this girl Mary, and they thought it was the funniest thing in the world; I thought it was plain mean.

Then Cissy was slipping away as she began dating Lucius, who was two years ahead of us. She got completely besotted, and snuck out with him on a regular basis. I didn't like it- he was once of those kids who talked about joining up with the Dark Lord after school and sounded serious about it.

Of course when I told _Cissy_ that she went on about how I didn't know anything about it and had better shut up before someone heard me.

Then came the Defense Against the Dark Arts OWLS.

The actual exams went alright, and I was sure I did well. I probably would have done better if I had been able to keep my eyes off of Sirius Black, but he was just so good to look at, you know? Anyways, me, Cissy, Zurie and Maia and Jessica went out to the lake to get some sun and relax. Severus was sitting alone under a tree, and I almost went over to say hi but didn't. The five of us girls started chatting, and it was just like old times. Our happy relaxation was broken, however, by a shout of anger.

I glanced over towards the castle, and groaned as I saw Severus hanging in the air. James Potter was pointing his wand at him and Lily Evans looking completely livid.

"Wondrous." Zurie muttered. "Here we go again."

"Should we go help him?" Maia looked nervous.

"He needs to learn to defend himself." Cissy snapped. Maia, who had a bit of a crush on Severus, gave her a reproachful look. Cissy turned faintly pink. "What? Lucius says it _all_ the time,"

"Oh, well if dear _Lucius_ says so…" I said angrily. Cissy sharply turned her head towards me.

"You have a problem with Lucius all of a sudden?"

"I have a _problem_ with you shagging a seventh year who's got a future that looks about as good as on the run for practicing Dark Magic, if not in Azkaban!"

Cissy turned a very odd shade of purple I never would have expected from a girl with such a delicate complexion. She opened and closed her mouth several times as if searching desperately for something to say.

Suddenly, Maia let out a squeal. "Blood! Sev made Potter bleed!"

Our spat was forgotten as we all moved to watch the transpiring events. Mostly Black and Potter had the upper hand, which made the whole thing rather depressing moreover entertaining. Quite the opposite were the non-Slytherins' feelings, judging by the laughter and cheering. After Severus called Lily a mudblood, and she called him Snivellus, things quickly cooled down. Potter almost removed Sev's undies, which would have been pretty disgusting. He just left Snape on the ground, shaking with rage.

My friends and I rushed over. The other went off on the usual verbal abuse against the Gryffindors, then congratulated Severus for finally getting rid of Lily.

"You were a bit… harsh." I told him disapprovingly. "I mean, you're like… _friends._"

"Not anymore!" Zurie slapped him on the back. "Good job!"

"Wait- no." I laughed. "Let's be serious. _Sev-_ you have to go apologize, now! Do you want to ruin your friendship?"

"Why wouldn't he?" Maia narrowed her eyes.

"My _God_. You can't be serious!" I cried. "There's nothing wrong with Lily, she's perfectly nice, who _cares_ if her parents haven't got any magic?"

"We do." Cissy stood up, and my other friends followed suit. "Emma, hon, she's a muggle-born. _Mud. Blood._"

I stood up too. "Well that's your problem. It's not right, discriminating 'cause her parents don't have magic."

Cissy's face fell a little, almost like she was considering it, but Zurie stepped up. "It is to _us._ C'mon girls, we're going inside. Bye, Emma."

Without a backwards glance, they walked away.

Ha. Pretty great best fiends, right?

I was fuming, and almost forgot about Severus until I heard him snickering, "Looks like someone's out of the group…"

"Oh, shut up Snivellus," I snapped and walked off to go think about what had just happened.

It was the end of the year and the end of the façade- I wasn't a real Slytherin. Now how the _hell_ was I supposed to survive the next two years?


	2. Chapter 2

When the first day of sixth year came around, I expected it to be awful- everyone in Slytherin hated me, and I had no friends in the rest of the school. Then during dinner, Cissy ran up to me.

"EMMA! Where have you _been?" _she squealed,_ "_You didn't sit with us in the train! Now what have you been _up_ to, you haven't written all summer!"

"I- I thought we weren't friends anymore-" I stuttered, completely confused. _I _wasn't the only one of us who didn't write!

"Not _friends_?!" Cissy stared at me in wonder. "Em, five years of best-friendship doesn't go up in smoke just because you went through some stupid little _phase_. We _all_ have them! Yours was very, er, public, but-"

"Cissy… it wasn't a phase."

"Huh?"

"It's my opinion. I don't think Muggles are dirt."

"Oh." She paused. "Well, just keep that quiet then, it isn't _that_ big of a deal-"

"No, Cissy, _listen_ to me-"

"No, _you_ listen to _me!_" She grabbed my arm, pulling me towards the Slytherin table. "Come eat. Zurie and Maia and Jessica aren't angry, so don't worry. I've spent a lot of time making sure no one's mad at you; everything will be just the way it used to be!"

There were just a few problems with her idea- over the summer, I had changed _a lot_. I took a look at my parents' stuck-up pureblood friends, and realized that they were _exactly_ what I was destined to become if I didn't do something. I'd even hung out with muggles a little, and they weren't as bad as I had always heard they were.

So Cissy was wrong. I wasn't a 'real' Slytherin, and I was done pretending.

But for the first week of school, things went almost as well as she had hoped. Zurie, Maia and Jessica seemed a little colder to me, but we were all friends. Everyone was careful about mentioning the end of fifth year or anything related to mudbloods.

I almost thought that Cissy _was_ right and everything was going to be fine. Of course, I was wrong. One Friday night in the common room, Rodolphus Lestrange and his band of Death Eater wannabes came up to me.

Bellatrix spoke first, using the sugary sweet voice she used with teachers when she was in trouble. "Emma, our families have known each other for a long time, yeah? Well, as a family friend and fellow pureblood, I –well, _we_– feel we need to speak to you about something."

"Last year you said a few things that didn't quite sound like the Emma Doherty we've known." Rodolphus growled

"What he means, Emma, is that we just want to make sure those thoughts are out of you head." Bellatrix smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes.

"I- I dunno," I stuttered. What was I gonna say? I couldn't lie again, I had to start standing up for myself!

"Okay," I started, "I don't have a problem with mudbloods. But I mean, what's so bad about that? Just because they're parents don't have magic-"

"_Merlin_." John Avery, a boy I had been good friends with, rolled his eyes at me. "We hate mudbloods because their blood's all… dirty. They come from _muggles._"

"Well, why are muggles dirty?!"

John took a step back, looking at me in a way I'd never seen him look at another Slytherin before. "Emma… come _on._" He said in a quieter, almost pleading voice. "You can't _understand_ that? You're a pureblood!"

"She can't understand," Bellatrix said very loudly, "because the girl's a damn blood traitor!"

The common room went quiet, and suddenly all eyes were on us.

"I- I'm _not_ a blood traitor!" I gasped. Sure, I had made a few muggle friends around my neighborhood, and yeah, I had gone to a few music shows with them. But why was that so wrong? I was proud that I was pureblood. I just didn't get why these people were so obsessive about it?

"Ha! Not a blood traitor?" Rodolphus laughed. "Really?"

"Yes!" I cried. "I mean, _no_, I not! So what if I have a few muggle friends-"

Bellatrix gasped, and so did all of the other wish-they-were-Death-Eaters.

"She's worse than I thought." Bellatrix whispered to Rodolphus. Turning to me she said (all traces of sugar and sweetness gone from her voice), "We'll talk tomorrow."

Taking that as a sign to go to my dormitory, I grabbed my book bag, and walked as fast as I could without running up to my room.

I got into bed early. Zurie, Cissy, Maia and Jessica came up together, and as soon as they walked through the door they got very quiet. They got dressed and into bed quickly and without talking, but they were all giggling a little and trying to stifle it. I tried not to cry- this was even _worse _than the end of fifth year.

As much as I wanted to, I couldn't sleep. This was all _way _too much. I leaned over to my bedside table and grabbed my wand, just in case. I was scared that Bellatrix had something up her sleeve.

Turns out, someone did have something up their sleeve- it just wasn't Bella. It was this psychotic third year with frizzy hair- her name was Alecto or something. Her fiery orange spell hit my bed instead of me (though it did singe a big chunk of my hair), so I rolled to the floor before she could send another one at me. I grabbed her ankles, which made her topple to the ground and leapt up before anyone else could do anything. I raced down the stairs, pushing everyone out of the way.

I heard Bellatrix scream, "What the _hell_ happened?! Where is that little muggle lover going?!"

I made it through the doorway, but of course, it wasn't a clean getaway straight out of the common room. I was followed -I didn't stop to check how many people it was by- and it took several complicated turns and a good use of secret passageways to lose them. When I looked around, I realized I had _no_ idea where I was. The only distinctive thing about the corridor I was in was a lot of paintings of food.

Rule number one at Hogwarts: **Don't** get lost.

I leaned against the wall to catch my breath, wincing as the cold stone touched my bare shoulders. Then, deciding there was no way I could get any more lost, I wandered around trying to find some sign of life. Nothing, no one. Everything was totally unfamiliar. Stupid castle.

Then, there was a big crash and the sound of metal clattering to the floor, followed by a loud voice spewing out cuss words. I peeked around the corner, and saw four boys in my year levitating a good load of food that was obviously stolen from the kitchens.

It was Sirius Black, James Potter, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew.

It appeared that Potter had dropped an oversized platter of cookies on his foot, and he was jumping up and down letting out a stream of curses.

"You guys been in the kitchens?" I asked, stepping out into the open.

All four boys stopped and stared.

"Um…" Pettigrew swallowed. His gaze was directed a bit too low for my liking.

As I realized that, several things hit me.

One: I was walking around Hogwarts in my pajamas, which included a flimsy tank top and shorts.

Two: I had a very long, very fried strip of hair that was still smoking

Three: I was a Slytherin, which meant it was basically _written law _to turn them in for being out after hours.

"What exactly… happened to you?" Lupin asked.

I grimaced. "I was chased out of my bed by a mob of angry Slytherins. They don't really like me."

"Wait…what?" Black looked confused. "You're like... _popular_."

I shrugged. "Was. Until I spoke my mind and they decided I'm not Slytherin enough for them or some shit like that. Now I… actually, I have no idea what I do now."

"Oh."

"Um, where are we exactly?"

I had just asked that, when I heard a voice come from behind the tapestry I had just come out of. "Where _is_ she, dammit? I swear I'm gonna kill her…"

I turned white and backed up, wildly looking for somewhere to run.

Seeing this, Potter moved at lightning speed and pulled something out of Black's robe, throwing it over me. It took a moment for me to realize what it was… _an invisibility cloak_.

I shifted it so I was fully covered and moved to the side. Bellatrix burst out of the passageway, red in the face.

"We lost her! Rodolphus this is _your_ fault…"

"I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry," he said quickly as he appeared from the hidden corridor as well. Although Bellatrix and Rodolphus were the seventh year alphas, his crush on her was hopeless. I almost pitied him for it.

Almost.

"Well keep moving!" Another Death-Eater-wannabe came out behind them.

"You guys…" Cissy poked her head out. "Don't _hurt_ her…"

Bellatrix rolled her eyes. "She'll get what's com- what are _you_ four doing here?" she spat, trying to hide her bewilderment of finding the Gryffindors standing out in the open.

Potter gave her a look. "The inbreeding's really gotten to you lot, hasn't it?" He drawled, "Basement equals kitchens. Kitchens equal _food_."

Bellatrix matched James's steady gaze. "Do you forget my dearest cousin Sirius? If anyone's touched in the head, it's _that_ sod."

Black rolled his eyes and muttered. "More like I'm the only one that that escaped it. Now," he had a commanding, yet casually disinterested air about him, "we won't tell on _you_ if you don't tell on _us._ Now move along and go do... whatever it is you people do."

The Slytherins left without another word, just lots of glares. When they were gone, I pulled off the cloak and handed it to Pott- James. "Thanks. A lot." I said

"No problem. Now what exactly is their deal with you?"

I blushed. "I kind of… well, I guess I changed my mind about a few things, mainly pureblood/mudblood nonsense. And _they_ have major issues with that, obviously."

They all nodded slowly and thoughtfully, like they were trying to figure out if I was lying or not.

As James put his cloak into his pocket, Black gave him a funny look. "Mate, that thing's valuable. You can't just give it to every random girl in distress… especially Slytherins…"

I put my hands on my hips. "I thought I made it clear I disassociate myself from them."

Obviously, they weren't entirely convinced. There were a few moments of silence before I spoke.

"Um… I'm going to go talk to Dumbledore." I said trying to fill the awkward noiselessness. "Or someone. I don't know. Thanks for the help, though. Seriously," I smiled.

"See ya." Black said, still giving me a funny scrutinizing look. I blushed even more.

As I turned to leave, I could see that Lupin's smile was the only one that looked completely genuine. I couldn't really blame them, though- hadn't I spent the last five years jeering rude comments and being an overall bitch around them? I was going to have to work hard to earn a new reputation, or spend the rest of the year in loner-y misery, since it seemed like all of Slytherin was going to totally shun me. Or kill me. Or something.

I wandered around for a while before I found my way to the teacher's lounge. There were always teachers there, up until around midnight. I was lucky to catch McGonagall.

"Miss Doherty!" she cried, surprised. "What are you… _why_ are you-"

I took a deep breath. "I was chased out of my dorms by a bunch of deranged so-called friends who hate me because they say I'm a blood traitor, which I guess I sort of am, but it's really just my views and I hid them for a really long time but it's always been me I can't help it but I like myself better now- _they_ don't but that's just them, you know they way they are- but I can't survive the next two years with them, like really they're kind of crazy and I need to see the Headmaster now, please. Ma'am."

"I believe he's in a meeting right now with some Slytherin students right." she stuttered, still slightly flustered by my sudden appearance

Oh no.

It's really not hard to guess which Slytherin students she was talking about.

As soon as McGonagall saw the horrified look on my face, her expression softened a little. Well there's something she'd never done for me before!

But her voice and face quickly returned to their usual strict and disciplined quality. "I'll take you to see him now." she said, and with a confused glance at me, turned and led the way.

We walked to the office in silence, and got there just as the other Slytherins were leaving. It was most of same kids who'd been chasing me. As we passed them they all shot me total death-glares and I tried to look small. As soon as Dumbledore saw me, he raised his eyebrows.

"Miss Doherty… I've just heard an earful about you. Well then, sit down."

I chose a comfortable looking armchair, and immediately sunk six inches into the cushions. Trying to reposition myself so I didn't get sucked into stuffing, I cleared my throat. "Er… yeah. About that conversation with the other Slytherins you had…"

"You don't seem to be the favorite in your House right now."

"Well... yeah."

"Miss Doherty," the headmaster laced his fingers together and leaned forward. "what I heard from the other Slytherin students is, well, a little confusing. Quite frankly, they seemed to be describing a person very different from the Emma Doherty that I'd seen before. So I'd like to discuss that."

Instead of responding immediately, I tried to find the right words to say while looking around the room.

The office was furnished with taste, but Dumbledore's eccentricity was definitely apparent from all of the odd objects about, clicking and whirring and smoking. I spotted the Sorting Hat on tall mahogany shelf nearby, and felt my cheeks turn red. I distinctly remembered our conversation six years before… the hat had said I was un-Slytherin. Before it had seemed impossible, but now it was obviously correct. There was just no denying it.

"Miss Doherty?" Dumbledore's voice broke me away from my memory

I sighed. "The other Slytherins and me... well, we never quite meshed right. Everyone else thought I was ok, but I knew inside it wasn't really right, I knew that something didn't click with me and them. At first it wasn't too bad, but then started getting worse. Lately it's been getting really... difficult. _Really _really difficult."

"I heard you ran out of your room after attacking a third year?"

I let out a tiny gasp of indignation. "You mean that Carrow chick? _She_ attacked _me,_ while I was _sleeping!_"

"I see. I thought it may have been a bit different then what they told me. Now, what were you saying about things not clicking?"

"Oh... well, um, to be honest, sir…" I looked down, the blurted, "I don't want to be in Slytherin!"

"Ah." he leaned back. "And why is this?"

"Why? It's awful! I hate them! All of them! Well, _most_ of them anyways. I mean, I had a lot of friends but now everyone hates me and thing has gotten completely out of order and people are always talking about the Dark Lord and I'm always going along with things I don't believe in and now I've gone and _completely _blown it all up, and they're ALL going to hate me now, they'll call me blood traitor freak! I'm proud of it, I guess _now _I am, but where do I have to go and-"

"Emma." Dumbledore stopped me. "Please, slow down."

He was being very calm about the whole situation, when this was there was the happiness and well being, not to mention social life at stake for one of his students.

So I decided to try again. "I'm only in it because of my family. The Sorting Hat warned me before, about me not doing well in Slytherin." I explained. "I didn't listen, which was _stupid_. Now I'm stuck and I have to spend the next two years with these people! I'm going to go insane!"

I was on the brink of tears, as well as hysteria.

Dumbledore seemed to realize this, and leaned forward. "Miss Doherty, something may be able to be arranged. If your problems with your peers are really this bad, I'm sure I could arrange with Poppy for you to stay in the Hospital Wing."

I smiled. "That would be great."

"Now, do you think you'll be fine going to bed?"

I made a face. "I guess so, as long as everyone is asleep…"

He leaned back. "Well, after the… _talk_ I had with them earlier, I'm sure you'll be fine."

He sent me along to go back to bed, but when I got back to the dungeons I was greeted by a very unhappy sight.

All of my belongings were sitting, perfectly packed, outside of the blank stone wall that was the entrance to the Common room.

"Password?" the familiar disembodied voice asked as soon as I was close enough

"Thestral Wings…" I replied absentmindedly, staring at my trunk. Who had put that there? The girls from my dorm?

"Wrong." the voice said.

"Huh?" I snapped my head up.

"Wrong password. Try again."

"_Wrong_?!" I shrieked. "No! It's thestral wings!"

"Try again."

They _changed_ the damn _password_ on me. I had been kicked out of my own house.

Staring at my trunk on the ground, I _could_ think of a good thing about this situation- at least they had packed my stuff for me!

Ah, optimism. It can make any crappy situation better.


	3. Chapter 3

After putting on some warm robes, I wandered around for a bit, and bumped into McGonagall yet again.

"Miss Doherty!" she exclaimed, "What on _earth_…?"

"I can't get back in." my voice was monotone, emotionless. "The password's different."

"Are you sure?" she groaned, "How is that even _possible_? The wall- oh, never mind. I suppose you can stay in the Hospital Wing for now..."

"Starting now?"

"Yes, now hurry up; I probably need sleep more than you do.

Madame Pomfrey was hesitant (to say the least) to let me stay, complaining about how I would disturb the sick. She gave in when McGonagall mentioned that there was only one person in the Hospital Wing, who would be out the next day.

By the time I got into bed, I was too tired to really think about what had happened- after all, it was getting late. I just fell asleep, then didn't wake up until noon the next day.

As soon as I did, I pretty much had to come to terms with the fact that my crazy dream of last night had actually happened. I flipped. Then I cried, a little. Then I sulked, a lot.

Everyone I knew had turned on me. My _best friends_ had turned me out. All because I made a few comments about mudbloods not being all that bad!

I lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. This could _not _be happening. It wasn't like I was a blood traitor, right? No. I couldn't be a _blood traitor _just because I didn't mind hanging out with muggles over the summer, or because I thought it was fine to be friends with mudbloods. How could there be _so _muchwrong with that?

It was Saturday, so I didn't have to deal with anybody in class. But, it also meant I was faced with intense boredom. I did my homework for a while, but I couldn't keep my focus on it long enough to finish it, so I ended up wandering around the castle. That's what I did for the rest of the day, and that's what I did all of Sunday.

Maybe you think that's boring, spending a day and a half just walking around castle! Okay, well, it was.

Until, of course, I discovered an interesting hidden passageway behind a tapestry. Curiosity: sparked.  
I thought that in five years of attending Hogwarts, I knew a good amount about the castle and secret passageways around it. In those two lonely days I almost doubled my knowledge of Hogwarts. Well, maybe not _doubled, _but I actually found a few wings I'd never even been _near_ before. I swear to god, Hogwarts is a lot bigger than it looks. Probably has something to do with thousands of years of magic being practiced in it. That can screw with things a little.

I wasn't sure what rumors had spread, and I didn't want to find out just yet. I _definitely_ didn't want to answer questions.  
But when I woke up on Monday, I knew I couldn't avoid it anymore- I had to go to class. And that meant all Slytherins, all day.

---------------------------

Surprisingly, it turned out better than I thought.

Okay, well seeing as I had visions of being brutally clubbed to death by every nearby Slytherin student as soon as I stepped into the classroom, I suppose anything would have been a relief. But everyone just... ignored me.

Although for half of them I could see how hard they were working to do it. It would have been funny, seeing them mentally slap themselves every time they accidentally glanced at me, if all of those people weren't my ex-friends.

Tuesday was the same- I sat alone in class, and tried to ignore the Slytherins ignoring me, while also ignoring the other kids wondering why everyone was ignoring me.

Then, as I was walking from eating lunch alone in the library to potions (the most dreaded class of the day, since it was taught by Slughorn), a Gryffindor girl in my year ran up to me.

"Emma." she stated.

I blinked at her. I'd only ever heard her refer to me as Doherty, just as I had always referred to her as Parker, instead of her real name, Perry.

"Hi," I mumbled, unsure of why she was talking to me.

"Sooo, we're all wondering, what's going on with you and the Slytherins?"

I opened my mouth, but no words came out as I was a little surprised. Here was this girl that I hadn't had a friendly conversation with since second year, coming up to me out of the blue to ask about my social life?

"I mean," she continued without waiting for my response, "The boys -that's uh, James, Peter, Sirius, Remus- told me about some random Slytherin chick who all the Slytherins chased out of her dorm, and how they all hated her now, and I'm guessing that was you. Am I right? I am, aren't I? Well, why did they get mad at you? They chased you out of your dorm? Why would they do that? I mean, I could see a few of them getting pissed at you, but like the whole House totally going all 'oh wow, we're gonna kill you we hate you' that's so not normal, yeah? Yeah."

"Uh... yeah." I coughed. "Um, they decided I'm not exactly pureblood enough for them."

"Not pureblood enough?"

"Yeah. They say I'm a blood traitor or something."

She cocked her head to the side. "Well, are you?"

Again, I was surprised by her bluntness. "Um... I'm not sure." I thought a moment. I had already been over this with myself- I was not a blood traitor. I was proud that I was a pureblood, and that I came from an old family. I'd learned my whole life that blood traitors were bad, so how could I be one when I didn't feel like I'd done anything wrong? I'd just gotten older, and learned to see the world a little differently.

Then again, I'd figured out that basically every pureblood value I'd learned in my life was totally mental.  
So maybe the whole 'blood traitor=bad' thing was just another thing I'd been brainwashed to believe, when really 'blood-traitor' was just some ugly name people like the Malfoys and Lestranges had slapped on to belittle people who weren't exactly like them.

So, I shook my head. "Wait, no, I am. I'm…" I took a deep breath. "I'm a blood traitor."

Perry beamed. "Well, that's just fantastic!" she grabbed my arm. "Come on, we'll be late for Potions!"

And then without another word she yanked me down to class.

When we got there, a group had formed outside the doors, which were evidently locked. The Slytherins were grouped on one side of the corridor, and the Gryffindors on another side like it always was when Slughorn was late. Perry continued her grasp on my arm as she walked over to the Gryffindors.

"Um, Perry," Sirius Black gave her a funny look, "What are you doing with Doherty?"

Perry laughed and rolled her eyes, releasing me from her death-grip. "_Emma_, here, is cool now."

All the Gryffindors were now staring at us.

Lily Evans opened her mouth, as if trying to say something, but it seemed she could only manage to get out a garbled "Um?"

Seeing everyone's dumbstruck faces, Perry laughed. "She's a blood traitor!" she announced happily, like it explained everything. I blushed, embarrassed by their confused stares.

I noticed a few Slytherins breaking their apparent vows of ignoring me to watch what was playing out.

_Great, _I thought, _Now I'm an even _bigger_ freak show._

None of the Gryffindors spoke. I looked down and avoided eye contact with any of them, especially the four boys who I had run into that night.

Finally someone said something. It was a girl with curly brown hair and an Irish accent, Layne O'Malley.  
"Wait, this is _Emma Doherty_ we're talking about here. Her family is like, old blood."

I coughed. She could talk to _me,_ instead of Perry.

"And she's always been such a _bitch._" Evie Mellor, who had always been the bitchiest of the Gryffindor girls in our year, snapped

"I'm uh, right here you guys," I waved my hand.

"Oh... right. Well, then," Evie turned, and looked me up and down with a judging stare. She glanced at Lily. "What do you think?"

Lily scrunched up her lips. "Well..." she said thoughtfully, "she _used_ to be nice,"

"I wouldn't be talking to _Doherty _if I were you," John Avery jumped into the conversation from the other side of the corridor. "I bet you didn't hear about the third year she attacked!"

"I did _not_ attack her!" I cried, wheeling around to face him. Merlin, a week ago we had been _friends_. "That's bullshit, Avery. Are you _really_ gonna go that low?"

And I swear to God, for one moment he actually looked like he felt bad. But just then Slughorn appeared, quickly waddling down the hall.

"Sorry I'm late! But I'm here now, so get into the room, get your books out."

I sighed, happy to get away from the spotlight, at least for a moment. For the rest of the day, everywhere I went, every class, I had to endure nervous, confused, and curious glances from all of my classmates, as they whispered to their friends the rumors they had heard.

That night, just after I had eaten dinner in the library, alone, again, I was called to the staff room.

In there sat each teacher and a group of people I assumed to be the school governors.

And in the middle of the room, a familiar old stool with a familiar old hat sitting on it.

"Miss Doherty." Dumbledore smiled. "After a long bout of… discussion, we have come to the conclusion that for you own safety you should be re-sorted. If the Hat decides you are best in Slytherin, you _must_ stay there. If not… well, then we'll see."

I gulped. Was this _really_ what I wanted? Was it really too late to go back and fix everything?

As soon as I thought that, I could've slapped myself. Of course this is what I wanted. So, I nodded to the headmaster, unable to speak. The governors all looked serious and grave and stuffy. Not fun people.

Jittery under the expectant gazes of so many, I walked over to the stool and sat down and put the Sorting Hat on my head. This was worse than being sorted in first year.

"_Emma Doherty. Again?" _I heard the Hat's voice in my head

_Just couldn't stay away!_

_"Well, I've told you before- _not _Slytherin."_

_Definitely_.

_"You seem to have even less care for your pureblood heritage then when we first met. And you certainly lack the ambition of one..."_

_Excuse me?_

"_Well, I'm going to have to tell you what I would have said when we first spoke… Gryffindor." _

Whoah, there.

_Gryffindor?_ Seriously? Gryffindor was the polar opposite of Slytherin, which was a good thing, but would I really be accepted there? After all, I'd seen their reaction to me that day. Not so good.

Though no matter what my choice was, would _any_ House be much better with the whole acceptance thing?

_Well, what about the other Houses? _I asked desperately

_"Hufflepuff may work, your Aunt _did_ do fine there_…"

_Nope, I'm not going to be another Aunt Lida_. _Hey,_ _I'm smart enough for Ravenclaw, right?_

_"Oh, I suppose. Do you really have the drive_?"

I sighed. _No_._ I'd be rubbish at being that much of an overachiever_. _They'd make fun of me_.

_"Miss Doherty, I think _youknow _what House you'll flourish in._"

"Fine." I whispered. I guess the most drastic choice was the best one, too. "Gryffindor it is."

_"Very good_." The hat said in my head, then announced "GRYFFINDOR!"

Immediately the room erupted with noise. Cheers, boos, exclamations of shock. Dumbledore quieted them down quick enough, and then turned to me.

"Well, Miss Doherty, it appears that you are Gryffindor's newest member."

Oh, boy.

Well, here's to the start of a grand new year- it's going to be interesting.

* * *

A/N: So, what do you think of that? I thought it was a bit predictable, but oh well. Review and tell me what you think!


	4. Chapter 4

I left the staff room with butterflies in my stomach- I'd actually, seriously just changed Houses. It didn't seem at all real, and the weird numb feeling I was experiencing led me to suspect I was dreaming. It went away when, as McGonagall led me to Gryffindor, I wasn't paying attention and fell through one of the missing steps.

As soon I stepped into the red and gold common room, the numb feeling came back. Saying that I felt out of place would be an understatement. The few people in the common room were obviously shocked.

"What is _she _doing in here?" a sandy haired boy I was pretty sure was a fifth year asked rudely

"That girl isn't in Gryffindor, is she?" a younger girl, probably second or third year asked her friend

"I think she's a Slytherin…" her neighbor replied, sounding unsure

McGonagall cleared her throat. "Everyone, this is Emma Doherty, and she'll be joining us in Gryffindor. It appears that it will be… permanent."

"That's not _possible_, is it?" the same boy who had spoken loudly before stood up. "She's can't just change-"

"Now is not the time for questions! Miss Doherty," she added in an undertone, "please take your trunk up those stairs. Second on the left is your dorm. I believe you already know the girls you will be staying with?"

I nodded, my throat tight. What the hell was I going to say to them?

"That's it, then. I'll see you all in class tomorrow." her voice was curt, and she looked at me warily. Like she wasn't sure if she trusted me or not. Grrreat.

She was gone, and I was left out like a piece of meat for the Gryffindors to devour with their nonstop questions.

"Um- I'm tired." I shouted as soon as they all stopped to breathe, "Really tired. I should be getting to bed now, to sleep, to rest you know, so um… seeyoualltomorrowmorning!" I grabbed my trunk and sprinted up the stairway before anyone could get another word in.

All the girls were sound asleep, which left it a little awkward. I felt like some intruder, and I wasn't sure if I should wake them up or not. After debating what was more or less weird, I decided to just go to sleep.

It was as I was lying in bed, eyes squeezed shut in an attempt to somehow fall asleep, my thoughts drifted to what my _family _was going to say.

My parents would be furious. They were old Slytherins, loved Slughorn, and were solidly convinced that the best house for success was good ol' Salazar's.

My sister would probably be fine with it, just shake her head and roll her eyes. But my brother, Madden? I wanted to think about his reaction even less than my _parents_. Me and him were really close, but he was already all pissed at me for my little breakdown in the beginning- when he found out about _this, _he was going to flip. Oh well- Madden was a cool guy. In the end he'd probably be bragging about his 'awesome rebellious little sister'.

Hopefully.

I groaned out loud, and turned over, burying my face into my pillow. After a good half hour, I finally drifted into an uneasy sleep.

-----------------

"WHOAH!"

I was wrenched awake with a start. "Huh? Who's being loud?" I grumbled, then squeezed my eyes tighter and tried to fall back asleep.

_Probably Cissy or Jessica, _I thought to myself, _They always have so much energy in the morning..._

"What are you doing here?" I heard another voice

"Where?" I groaned "It's too early…" My eyelids fluttered open a moment.

Hold it.

_Why is everything maroon?_ I sat up, eyes protesting against my sleepiness and opening wide as last night's memories flooding through me all at once. The four other girls in the room were sitting in their beds, staring at me.

After a long pause, Lily spoke first. "Um… Emma… aren't you in the wrong House?"

I felt my face grow hot. "Not… exactly…"

"Wait, _what_?"

I was now extremely embarrassed. Time to deal with the _people_, Emma.

"I… um… transferred. I had a meeting with the school people last night… and I was Sorted… and yeah."

"What?" Perry cried. "Can you _do_ that? Like, just switch?"

"You can when your entire House has a death wish against you." I tried to laugh a little.

Evie Mellor flipped her hair behind her shoulder. "Okay, so you lose your popularity and decide you're just going to switch to a new House?"

Oh, Evie. So sweet and welcoming.

"Well," I stuttered, "it's wasn't like that- I mean, I didn't like everyone and they didn't like me, it was mutual… not… liking…ness."

Evie looked me up and down. "Is this a _joke_?" she asked haughtily, "I mean, I thought the other day in potions was weird, but _this_?"

"Um… no. No joke."

"This isn't some weird phase?"

"No..."

"You're actually, really a Gryffindor."

"Yes."

Evie jumped off her bed and walked towards the bathroom. "Hm." She was all she said

When she was gone, Layne O'Malley smiled shyly at me. "Don't mind her… she tries to be Miss Cool-girl all the time, she comes off as a bitch until you get to know her."

Probably the same way _they _all thought _I _was a bitch?

It was quiet. Quiet, quiet, quiet. Why wouldn't somebody _say _something?!

Suddenly, Lily spoke up. "Well…" she cleared her throat, "it's… lovely, that you've changed your mind and all, but I really can't stay and chat. Prefect duties, you know, and all… that. Bye!"

She darted out of the room, still in her pajamas.

I eyed Perry and Layne carefully, making sure _they _weren't going to run off, too.

"God, what's _wrong _with them?" Perry rolled her eyes. "They're stupid. I mean, _hello_! Obviously you're alright. C'mon- let's get dressed and go to breakfast."

When we joined the other sixth years at the table, they stopped talking abruptly and all smiled at me with identical plastered smiles.

"Morning, Doherty," James said brightly. "How'd you sleep?"

I was taken by surprise at his sudden address, and had to take a moment to swallow my mouthful of pancake. I choked on it. "Um, it was, um nice. Your beds are like… softer. It felt kind of like, different. Um, nice though."

_Oh good going, Emma. Show them just how intelligent you are._

"I've always thought the Gryffindor beds are too soft." Sirius said through a mouthful of scrambled eggs. "Now, _Ravenclaw_ beds; way better."

Evie laughed. "And you would know that, how?" she teased

Sirius winked and raised his fork to her before shoving more egg into his mouth.

Everyone laughed a little, and I cracked a smile. Sirius Black, though irritating, had an undeniable charm.

I had hoped for a quick, mostly quiet breakfast, but alas: word had spread.

It's no doubt that I was the most talked about person in Hogwarts. Rumors were going crazy. By the end of the day, I was secretly infiltrating Gryffindor for Slytherin's benefit, I was sleeping with half the Gryffindor quidditch team, I got kicked out of Slytherin because of bad behavior, I was facing expulsion, I was a freak, I had the right idea, I couldn't be trusted, I was a radical to be welcomed with open arms.

"She's wearing Gryffindor robes?"

"What the hell?"

"Didn't you hear?"

"It is _so_ messed up…"

"Dude, lay off her, I hear she's cool now,"

"Dude, I hate her."

"_Dude _she's misunderstood!"

"She's a Snake!"

It was way too much to handle- I didn't even make until dinner before I broke down hyperventilating in the bathroom. What a lovely first day.

------------------------------------

"Are you crazy?!"

These pleasant words were shouted to me by my brother in the hall as I was going to History. He grabbed my arm and pulled me off to a less crowded corridor.

"You really seem to have gone_ off the fucking rocker _this time_,_ Emma." He growled

"I'm not crazy!" I pulled my arm out of his grasp and rubbed it, "I'm glad I switched, or else I probably would turn _out_ crazy!"

"Oh, stop being melodramatic! You aren't a _blood traitor_! I thought you got over this phase last year-"

"Why," I cut in angrily, "does everyone think I'm in some _phase_?! I'm not going through anything. I'm what _you_ say is a 'blood traitor'."

Madden shook his head in disbelief. "No. No way. I am NOT letting you change Houses, Em."

"Funny, because you have no control over me. Not even mom and dad have any say in this."

"Mom and Dad." Madden growled, "So, what do _they _think of this?"

"W- well," I stuttered, "I haven't really spoken to them about it. At all."

It took a moment for this to sink in. When it did, he exploded.

"MOM AND DAD DON'T KNOW?!"

I drew back. "Of course they _know_! You think that Dumbledore wouldn't tell them? He owled them like, right after they Sorted me!"

"Oh."

"Madden, just find a way to... deal with it, okay? I'm still the same," I added defensively

"Yeah, okay, whatever." he sighed. "Bye, Emma,"

He walked away looking really pissed off. It freaked me out, the look on his face.  
I mean, I knew I was going to lose my friends. I just didn't expect to lose my brother.

--------------

A/N: Hmm, the ending here is a little bit depressing. But no fear! Things will get better soon.

Please review! :D


	5. Chapter 5

Wow! It's been a long time since I updated!  
But don't lose faith- I'm still here. I've actually spent some time revising this, and writing stuff that happens later. I have it posted on harrypotterfanfiction .com, with a banner and everything now. Plus, I just went back through all of these chapters and replaced them with more edited versions of the story, so I hope you like that!

So, here it is; chapter six.

* * *

My second night as a Gryffindor, there was a huge party in the common room.

"Basically, this is for you," Perry explained, "I mean, you're like _one of us _now. So we're having a party. Spiffy, yeah?"

"Er… yeah. Spiffy." I looked around nervously. "So I'm what, the guest of honor?"

"Um… sort of? Just be prepared to answer a lot of questions and all that."

"Okay, then." I took a deep breath. I was sure that I'd be fine as long as I had Perry there, her being the closest thing I had to a friend.

Unfortunately, as soon as she saw the alcohol she abandoned me to go do shots with Sirius Black and Marlene McKinnon.

Spiffy.

I was somehow shoved onto a couch, and somehow ended up with a plate of food and bottle of butterbeer in my hand. And then the questions started.

Apparently, people wanted to know me. They wanted to hear _allll_ about what had happened. Mostly they seemed prepared to let their guards down and make friends, as long as my story was good.

The problem was, my story wasn't all that great sounding- I didn't listen to the Sorting Hat, just because I wanted to please my family. I lied to make friends, and lied even more to stay with the in-crowd. I acted like a snob -no, I _was_ a snob- just to stay popular.

Sure, I finally snapped, but it took me until my _sixth year_ to actually _do_ something, not counting my blowup at the end of fifth year.

But, then my savior came: none other then a very drunk James Potter.

"Emma! _Emma_!" he slurred jubilantly, "You're with us now! Hey guys! This girl is so cool! You know she got chased by a whole mob of Slytherins through the whole castle? _The whole castle!_"

There were a few oohs and ahs, as he told a highly embellished version of my great escape. Having James Potter as backup, no matter how wasted he was, looked pretty good on my part. Who knows, maybe we'll even end up friends.

The music was loud and there was lots of people and food, and everyone was in good spirits. With just a _few_ minor tweaks to my story, at the end of the night one thing was clear: they (whoever _they _was, which I haven't figured out yet) had decided I was alright.

-----------------------

It was two nights later that the Howler arrived.

"Oh shit." I muttered when the owl dropped the red envelope in my hands in the common room.

"What?" Lily, who had been doing her Charms homework next to me, leaned over.

I heard a whistle, and glanced across the rooms to see the Marauders grinning at me.

"Better open that, Doherty," James called from across the room, smirking.

I picked it up with shaking hands. "It's from my _parents_." I groaned. How could I have not seen this coming? I realized that avoiding them had come back to slap me in the face. Well, _yell_ at me, more like, but you get the idea.

Perry plopped onto the cushion next to me. "Just get it over with, and there won't be any smoke."

"Or throw it out the window!" Remus called

I almost considered that. But no- I was a Gryffindor now! That meant I was brave, right? I could handle this. I quickly ripped open the envelope, and the enchanted piece of paper fluttered out.

Silence.

The whole common room was watching now.

"EMMA! WENDY! DOHERTY!" My mothers voice suddenly boomed, "HOW COULD YOU _DO_ THIS? YOU'VE NEVER EVEN SPOKEN A WORD ABOUT IT! YOU'RE LUCKY WE DON'T _COME DOWN TO THE SCHOOL_ RIGHT NOW! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU! THIS IS AN OUTRAGE! AN EMBARRASMENT! WHAT PEOPLE WILL _SAY-_"

"But sweetie," my dad's voice interrupted. I groaned. "well, we support you in your decision! It may not be a _wise_ one… or one we _agree_ with, but we want you to know we're not going to try to stop you-"

"WE AREN'T, ARE WE? OH, WE'LL JUST SEE ABOUT THAT! _GRYFFINDOR?_ I CAN UNDERSTAND YOU NOT WANTING TO BE INVOLVED IN THAT DARK LORD NONSENSE, THAT'S BETTER BY ME, BUT A _TRANSFER??!!"_

At this point she seemed to calm down a little; the letter gave a final spurt of her voice: "Just know we love you. And we'll try to understand you throwing your future away." She made an odd sobbing noise. "Horace Slughorn is _so_ well connected…" with that she trailed off, and the letter burst into flames.

I sat there, still as stone. Mortified.

Finally, a giggle broke out. Then several more. Snickers all across the common room, probably completely amplified by my own embarrassment. Lily and Evie looked approving, Perry was laughing like mad, and Layne looked a tad scared.

Over to the boys, Peter was watching me with a sort of awe, Remus studied me in a careful (but friendly) way, James grinned approvingly and nodded, and then came Sirius. He looked almost… cold. That was weird. He gave me a half-hearted smile, then looked away, like he was pissed off or something. What was with that?

---------------

"You're not thinking clearly."

Madden had confronted me in the hallway again, along with John Avery.

"I'm thinking clearly," I told them without stopping

"You don't have to be a _Death Eater_ to be in Slytherin, Em!" Avery said

I glared at him. "I know that. And I'm _not_ rushing into this- I've been thinking about it all summer, really."

Madden groaned. "Emmie, don't _do_ this. You don't even _like_ Muggles!"

"I have muggle friends!"

"Yeah, the kids around the neighborhood don't count!"

"Yeah, they do. Who do you think I hung around with all summer? I'll see you later, I'm late for Transfiguration."

"_Emma_!"

"Bye, guys," I waved over my shoulder. This was beginning to get ridiculous.

Transfiguration has never been my best class, and I think McGonagall started pushing me even _harder _since I became a Gryffindor. My homework load was ridiculous.

Plus, my partner was Sirius Black, who I was beginning to suspect hated me.

Honestly, coming into the situation I'd expected him to be an ally. He knew what it was like- his family was even _worse_ then mine. Older blood, older money, and absolutely _ancient _ideas; but the guy treated me worse than he did when I was a Slytherin.

Sirius is good at everything, even if he doesn't do his work, and my being dreadful at Transfiguration probably made him resent me even more.

The insults usually went something like this:

"Doherty, I am _not _going to fail this class because _you_ can't turn a string into sparkly ribbon. How hard are _sparkles_?";

"You're moving your wand wrong, _again_.";

"Merlin, how did you pass Transfiguration O.W.L.S?";

"McGonagall giving me you as a partner must be her way of getting back at me for all the years of hell I've given her…";

"Are you sure you shouldn't be in a fifth year class?"

How could so many girls lust after this guy? What a _prick_.

-----

One night, as I tried to catch up on homework, I stayed in the library until curfew. On my way back to the common room I heard two girls' disembodied giggles, seemingly coming from inside the wall next to me. They sounded familiar.

Before I had time to think anything else, there was a soft boom and a painting in front of me swung open; two people tumbled out, accompanied by billows of thick black smoke.

It was none other than Layne and Perry. They were laughing and coughing like wild.

"Um… hi guys?" I waved awkwardly

Perry looked up. "Oh! Emma. Er… think you could help us with this mess?"

I looked at the smoke, still wafting through the small passageway that was now revealed by the open painting.

"I don't know… what did you _do_?"

Layne grinned sheepishly. "It's a bet,"

Perry waved her wand to try and get the smoke to clear up. "The boys are under the impression that they're better at mixing potions then we are. _Just _because Remus and James _happened _to _accidentally _create that thing that makes you unable to stop burping for hours!"

"Oh yeah," I laughed, remembering the massive prank they pulled on half of Slytherin last year. Even those misfortunate enough to have been slipped the potion had to admit, however grudgingly, that it was pretty good.

"It wasn't _that _great," Layne wrinkled her nose, "it was so easy, there was no talent. And so immature! We've _almost _gotten something better…"

"Theoretically, it works like this:" Perry explained, "it's kinda like the hair color changing potion you can buy at Zonkos, except we found discovered this mixture that you put in it and instead of changing your _hair color…_" she grinned wickedly

"It changes the color of your skin." Layne stated simply. "Purple if you add more blueberries, yellow if there's more honking daffodils. And it _sticks_."

"Wow." I was impressed. "How do you know it's gonna work?"

Perry frowned. "Well, we're _getting _there. If we pull this off, it will be, well, awesome."

"Is there any boomslang skin in it?" I asked

"Uh… no,"

Oh, well _that _would be a huge issue. I sighed. "_Anything_ that's been picked on the full moon? Half moon? Even at _night_ time?"

"No,"

"Pixie pigment powder?"

"No, but that's a good idea!"

"Er…" I glanced at the smoke that was still pouring from the passageway, "Want some help with that thing?"

Perry beamed. "Yeah! You're good a potions, right?"

Layne crossed her arms and smirked. "Alright, Emma Doherty. Hope you're alright with breaking some rules."

All the years I had gone to Hogwarts, and I never would've guessed what a trouble maker Lane O'Malley was. In fifth year I was surprised to see Lily as a prefect instead of Layne- and now I knew why.

She barely batted an eyelash at the mention of breaking into Slughorn's storeroom, and easily slipped in and out with everything we could need.

"The best part is," she said as we made out way back to their hiding spot behind the painting, "if he realizes he has stuff gone, he'll blame it on the boys. I really _love _being known as a good girl."

------


	6. Chapter 6

"Today," Professor McGonagall began her lesson, "we will be working on changing insects into mammals."

Oh Merlin. I _hate_ doing that.

I was given a beetle, and instructed to change it into a rat. It did not go well.

But, instead of grumbling and making fun of me, Sirius just sighed and decided to help.

"Here, Doherty," he grabbed my arm before I could finish casting the spell. "Move your wand like _this_. And you aren't saying it right- pronounce your vowels longer, and softer."

"I'm saying it fine," I shot back, but took his advice. Before long, I had a scurrying little rat. Tailless, but definitely a rat.

He grinned at me. "_Sure_ you were saying it fine…"

"Shut up!" I laughed. "Okay, how are you getting a whole _meerkat _out of that beetle?"

Rolling his eyes, he flicked his wand and said the incantation. A fuzzy little meerkat appeared where a beetle had been a moment before. It didn't look _so _hard… I tried, and the beetle fell over, dead.

"Oops," I muttered.

"Well, at least you aren't as bad as Peter…" Sirius mused

"I don't understand why he has so many_ issues _with rodents!" I laughed

Sirius shrugged, smiled. "Oh, it's a long story. Who knows, maybe you'll hear it some time."

When class was over, I ran after him.

"Hey, Black, why are you being so nice to me?"

He gave me a funny look. "You're very… blunt."

"Yeah, well, I'm a little worried. You barely even insulted me today."

He sighed. "Okay- Perry and James talked to me."

Oh, great. He's only being nice because his friends told him to be.

"So, you don't mean it?"

"I- well-" he looked away. "I don't hate you, even though I probably act like it."

"Yeah, you've been a total git to me since I came over here." I scowled. "And now, James and Perry tell you to play nice and all of a sudden it's 'here, do your wand like this!' and all that- and- I mean- _why_?"

"I guess- I didn't give you a chance before and… I don't know." He ruffled his hair, in a very James-esque fashion. "I guess I'll… see you later,"

Over the next week he ignored me except for when completely necessary.

What an asshole.

It took a little while to get used to my new schedule and situation, but soon everything started fitting into place. After I put in my help with the plot to out-prank the Marauders, Perry and Layne seemed happy enough to include me.

Evie and Lily had slight issues with me; it probably had something to do with them both being mudbloods- sorry, I mean, muggle-borns. Anyways, they wouldn't say anything my face, but I knew they still talked about me behind my back. Well honestly, _everyone_ did, but they could have hid it a bit better.

As the October chill began to creep into the castle, I suppose they began to warm up to me a little. We helped each other with things like homework and had pointless small talk conversations. With Lily and Perry being such good friends, Lily and I still hating each other would have made things a little awkward. And after I started talking to Evie more, I realized that she _wasn't _a complete bitch- she just acted one. Who knew, by the end of this we might all turn out friends.

------

One day in Charms, we had a lesson on how to cast simple enchantments that creates games like Wizard's Chess.

But I mean really… who wants to play _chess_?

Exploding Mancala is much more interesting.

Exploding Mancala was created by Perry, James, Layne and I and had little to do with real mancala. But if Layne O'Malley knew how to do anything, it was making a good explosion. With Perry who was so completely, well, _Perry_, add my Charms skills and James' Marauderness and something like this was bound to be created.

"Come, one and all!" James shouted, standing up on a coffee table in the common room. "Witness it and be amazed- the fun, the magic, the explosions, of _Mancala!_"

"James, get off the table," Layne sighed, scribbling away at her Defense Against the Dark Arts homework.

"People of Gryffindor!" he continued, "Only a single galleon per play! You won't regret it!"

"Really, Potter?" Lily looked up from the book she was reading. "You're charging people to play Exploding Mancala? I saw you guys make that- I bet fourth years could do it, if they tried."

"Shh!" James put a finger to his lips and crouched down so he was at her level. "_They _don't know that, and I need new socks! Hey you- kid!" he straightened up, "Want to play?"

On Halloween night, after the feast in the Great Hall, some seventh years decided to throw another party in the common room. There was plenty of booze –credit goes to Marlene's friend Joanna, whose family owned the Three Broomsticks.

"Emmaaaaaa!" Perry cried, leaping over to me a few minutes after I came downstairs, two smoking cups of firewhisky floating beside her. "Here- take one!" she handed me one of the glasses.

"Eh, Perry, I don't really drink that often…" I told her

She rolled her eyes. "Come on, just _take _it! Its only _one_ cup,"

This was sounding vaguely like those teen-safety pamphlets the Ministry gives us, but I ended up agreeing. Being a total lightweight drinker, I got really tipsy pretty fast- although at least I wasn't like Perry and Evie. They couldn't stop laughing and kept tripping over things.

I noticed Lily standing in the corner, looking a little disapproving and a little jealous. I almost wanted to go say hi, but then her friend Mary started talking to her and lost the nerve.

Instead, I spotted Layne hanging out with James, Remus, Sirius and Peter, so I went to go sit with them for a while. They were passing a bottle of something clear and peculiarly magical-looking back and forth; though Layne and Remus seemed to be taking a lot more than anyone else. I swear, it's the good ones who always turn out to be the bad ones.…

I was still a little mad at Sirius for being a prat, fake-nice, and then ignoring me, and even though I was sitting with him and talking to all the people he was talking to, he continued to take no notice ofme. It almost felt like how the Slytherins acted when they first kicked me out.

After a while, while James, Remus and I were in a discussion about what would happen if a mermaid and a grindylow had a baby, Sirius got up and left to common room.

"What is his _problem_?" I groaned when he was out of earshot

"Eh." James mumbled.

"Remus?" I asked hopefully

"Eh," he mumbled back.

I looked at Peter, but he was such a follower I already knew what he would say.

I sighed, and it was just then that something inside compelled me to go after Sirius and give him a good talking-to. Maybe it was my inner Gryffindor. It probably had more to do with the firewhisky. He had no reason to dislike me so much- I'd never done anything to him! I'd even been to his house for _Christmas_. I needed answers.

"Hey, Black, stop!" I shouted when I spotted him down a corridor

"What do you want _now_?" he asked as he turned around

"You never really answered me before, about you hating me. Or acting like you do. Or whatever."

He groaned. "Doherty, I _don't_ hateyou. I just… I don't like you being… here."

I crossed my arms. "Why do you care? You know how those purebloods are- you've grown up with them just like I have. I thought you'd get it!"

"Yeah, sure I get it. That's why _I _decided when I was a _first year_ that I wasn't going to be like them. But you? You didn't. It took you six years to figure it out!"

"But I- it was- that's not fair!" I stuttered

"No, Doherty," he scowled, "You hung out with the Death Eater kids and their stuck-up girlfriends. You made fun of muggle-borns. You snitched on us when you caught us doing something wrong, and competed for us for points in class. Now, you waltz right in here, in _my _House, hang out with _my _friends, with your whole 'Oh, I'm a poor little blood traitor' routine!"

"Oh _please_, Black!" I retorted, trying to cover up how much his words had stung, "I've heard you talking about your family- getting sympathy from people and making a reputation as being the badass anti-pureblood! Don't even talk!"

He sighed and ruffled his hair. James _really _must be rubbing off on him.

"I guess, Doherty, you just confuse me. I get why you came here, but I don't get _you_. I don't get how you managed to go from being that bitch who hung out with my cousins to this girl who hangs out with Perry and Layne. James used to hate you, and now he thinks you're the coolest chick since Evans. Without the creepy attraction. I don't get why you just _now_ decided to take a stand. I don't get-"

"Wait," I jutted in, "you don't like me because I confuse you? That's bull."

He took a step closer to me- he was less than a foot away. "You don't make sense; I don't know if I can trust you, even though it seems like I should."

"You can trust me," I whispered, "I'm not like them, not anymore."

He laughed. "You're still like them. You still say _mudblood_ all the time instead of muggle born- I know you don't mean to, but you still _do it_. You walk like they do, you talk like they do. You do your hair and your makeup the same way they do." He leaned a little closer. "You even _smell_ like they do. I don't care how about how you feel; you're_ always going to be one of them._"

Okay, that made me mad.

"Shut up, Black!" I barked, taking him by surprise. "We're not all that different, the two of us, and you know it! Maybe I _will _always be one of them, but so will you! Don't try and deny it."

I then turned to leave, dramatic exit and all that. But, he grabbed my arm and pulled me back. I stopped, and our eyes locked. What happened next was _definitely _the firewhisky, and not my inner Gryffindor;

I kissed him.

For an awkward moment it was just lips mashed up against each other, but once he realized what was happening he responded by deepening it and wrapping his arms around my back. My hands found themselves resting on his chest, and I suddenly pulled away.

"Um… wow…" I stammered, "Sorry- I didn't- that was-"

"Blimey, Emma," he cut me off, "I really, _really_, don't get you." He laughed, and then kissed me again. I wrapped my arms around his neck and we stood there for a good half minute, full on _snogging_, before I stopped it again.

"I need to go." I stated, racking my brains for an excuse. "I need to uh, pee."

Then I ran.

In the opposite direction of the bathroom.

Oh boy. What… just… happened?

Did I just make out with Sirius Black?

* * *

Dun dun dun! That sure happened fast, didn't it? Well, these things happen when alcohol is consumed.

I know its been a while since my last update- but chapter eight is on its way!

PS,  
Reviews are a lovely thing to get, and I'd appreciate if you left one. :]


	7. Chapter 7

Snogging Sirius Black had definitely not been on my to-do list, but it happened, and there was no changing it. So the next morning, Saturday, I lay in bed and thought things over. Did I like him? I mean, he was _Sirius Black_. He was gorgeous, yeah, probably one of the fittest guys I knew. Of course, he was also unbelievably stuck-up and pretentious; but maybe he only did at all for show? My brother certainly went through that phase. Actually, he never quite came out…. But what I'm getting at is maybe there was a sweet, sensitive Sirius underneath the oh-so-cool show off one? A Sirius who might actually, really _like_ me?

Oh boy. I was over thinking it. The only thing that happened between us was a quick snog and an awkward ditch. It hardly even counted as a _hookup_.

And, no actual feelings, right? Well, of course, there always has to be _something_ there, if only just physical attraction, but there was nothing emotional.

But no, wait, maybe there had been something there all along and now it was just coming out! Maybe all the tension we had before was just because we liked each other and wouldn't admit it- okay, Emma, shut up now. You are _absolutely_ over thinking this!

I rolled over onto my side and pulled the curtains back on the window. The sun had been up for a while, and the effect of the morning light on the water was really pretty. A layer of mist hung over the forest and I noticed how much snow was piling up on the mountains. It would probably start snowing here at Hogwarts soon too.

I was just drifting off again when I heard a long, pained, drawn-out groan coming from a bed near me. Evie?

"Shut up!" Lily's muffled voice shouted immediately after the moan

"_Noooooaaaaughhhhhhh,_" the voice shouted back. The whiny, slightly bitchy note in her voice clarified that it was, in fact, Evie. She continued to go on moaning.

"Not this time, Evie," I heard Layne mumble. "In the name of Merlin!"

I pulled the curtains back and sat up. "What's going on?"

"Evie's hung over." Lily grumbled from under her covers. "And she's always an awful, noisy cow when she's hung over."

"Shut it!" Evie moaned. "I hate you!"

"_Both_ of you shut it!" Layne called, "You'll wake up Perry, and you know she's always almost as bad as Evie!"

"I can hear you," Perry grumbled. "Now everyone, just go back to bed, I have a headache."

Of course, now that we were all up we didn't stay in bed for long. In an attempt to escape the grumbling wrath of Perry and Evie's hangovers, Layne, Lily and I went down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

"That was a crazy party last night," Layne reminisced as she poured herself coffee. "I don't think we've _ever _had a rager like that. I can't imagine what we'll do without Marlene and Jessica and Justin and all them next year…"

Lily laughed. "Do the names James, Sirius, Remus and Peter mean anything to you? As long as they're around, I think we'll be just fine."

I sighed. "Slytherin hadn't had a real party in ages, when I left,"

They immediately perked up as soon as I said that; I rarely talked about my days as a Slytherin.

"I mean, there were when I was younger, but you don't want to go to a party like that when you're in the lower years, you know?" I explained, "But the war keeps getting worse and worse, and it's been depressing everything. I think Slytherin is the worst, honestly, because we have so many aspiring Death Eaters. They've gotten all hard, and serious. There are barely even tame, just-for-fun parties anymore- even after Quidditch games. Most of the partying that happens is the older kids going off and getting super fucked up… I think they're all just really sad and… lost." I sighed and took a bite out of my toast.

As I came out of my reverie, I realized that a small group of people around the table were leaning in and listening intently. I rolled my eyes and waved them away.

-----------

The whole day long, I debated whether or not I should talk to Sirius. I went back and forth on it, but every time I saw him all the confidence drained out of me. Then again, it's not exactly like he gave me a chance to talk; the only time I got close to him all day, he immediately darted off to go outside with Remus and Peter and Evie as soon as we made eye contact.

Later that night, Perry and I were playing Exploding Mancala in the Common Room, and I couldn't stop thinking about him. Scenes were playing in my mind of all the possible conversations we could have about the night before, and how they would end.

_Him laughing me off and walking to his friends… me messing up my words and making a fool of myself… him shouting at me for ditching him… his confession of love for me … maybe just us snogging some more… _mmm, snogging Sirius…

BOOM!

I was shocked out of my fantasy to find that we were covered in gold sparkles. I mean, really _covered _in them. How did that- oh right! We were playing mancala.

"Emma, aren't you paying attention?" Perry cried, spitting sparkles out of her mouth. "No going counter clockwise with them! Ever!"

"Right… forgot about that…" I shook my hair out

The board continued to spout out multicolored glittering dust, and soon the surrounding perimeter was a quarter inch deep in the stuff with smoke was billowing everywhere. A few people shouted at us.

When the dust cleared, Perry had won. "That doesn't even make sense!" I cried in frustration. "I had more than you a second ago- where did half of them even go-"

"Haha! That's what you get for breaking the only rule this game really even has. Hey, look, you're stones all turned silver and green."

I wrinkled my nose. "Ew."

Our game ended several minutes later when the whole board blew up.

"Aw…" her face fell as she tried to come up with something to repair it. More, smaller, explosions ensued. "We'll have to find a new board. But hey, exploding _cards_! Now that could be interesting…" her face lit up. "Wanna try Snap? Nah, poker would be better. Layne! Get over here, girlie!"

We got to work on that, and with the help of a few odd jabs of Layne's leprechaun gold-infused wand, we had Exploding Poker.

"That's bleeding brilliant, that is!" James said approvingly when he saw us playing it. "Why exactly do the cards explode?"

Sirius glowered at us from across the room. I bet he was jealous about us finally one-upping his friends on something like that.

"Well…" Perry looked down at her cards, three of which were beginning to smoke, "If you don't get rid of them fast enough they blow up, and reappear doubled. Sometimes they triple. And sometimes they're just gone."

"You always come up with _the_ coolest things, Perry!" Peter gushed, suddenly appearing at James's side. Perry smiled, and looked down.

After they left, she was still smiling. "He's so sweet- Peter, I mean," she told me.

"What, do you like him?" I asked, pretending to gag

"No!" she turned pink. "He's just so lovely about everything, ya know? And those other boys, they're so mean to him. I know they're only poking fun, but I think he takes it personally so much that-"

_Shaboom! _

The sudden explosion of Perry's cards happened out of nowhere, and everything within a five meter radius was covered in smoking pieces of cards and black ash. Well, at least it wasn't sparkly this time.

I looked at the mess around us and grimaced. "_Scourgify_?" I flicked my wand hopefully. It did nothing to remove the mess we had made.

"The House Elves can get it," Perry said decidedly, not wanting to tackle it herself.

"I don't know, maybe you can Vanish it-" Layne started

"Ah! Sirius, _stop it_!" a playful shriek came from across the room.

I turned my head to witness Sirius and Evie on the couch, ticking each other. Sirius's involvement in tickling fights wasn't much out of the ordinary (the Marauder's were actually all rather fond of tickling, especially each other) but when he flipped her over so he was on directly top, I knew something was different. And when she grabbed his hair and pulled him closer so she could kiss him square on the mouth, my jaw dropped.

Their snogging got so intense that people around edged away, rolling their eyes and casting each other looks. A few wolf whistled.

Me? I couldn't stop staring.

"Sirius… and… _Evie_?" I gasped, looking around for answers

Layne nodded. "Yeah! You didn't know? They got together last night. At the party."

I scratched my head as Sirius and Evie continued to thrash on the couch. Eventually, she pushed him off, grabbed his hand, and led him through the Portrait hole.

No way.

This could not be happening.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Well, that was a fast update! Are you proud of me? I am. That's possible the quickest update I've ever done... I've been on a crazy writing spree lately. I now have this story planned out all the way to the summer after sixth year, although most of it isn't written yet. But let's not get ahead of ourselves... let's get back to it:

* * *

Evie and Sirius still hadn't returned when I went to bed. When Evie finally came back, it was well after curfew and I was about ready to fall asleep.

"Wow, you guys, Sirius is so great!" she crossed her hands over her heart and fell back on her bed. "Gee whiz." She sighed

"Oh no," Lily sighed forlornly from across the room. "Evie, you just used the expression _gee whiz _and you've only been dating him for twenty-four hours. Come on; it's Sirius! You know, that stupid, immature, womanizing _wanker_ you've known for over five years?"

Evie's glared at her. "You're such a downer. He's absolutely lovely. You guys, he did THE cutest thing today-"

And that's how it was _all the time_.

'Sirius did the cutest thing!' 'Sirius said the funniest thing!' 'Sirius told me about the craziest thing!' 'Sirius did this super cool thing!' 'Sirius did this thing, and it was so great!'

Any hope of friendship Evie and I may have had before went up in smoke. Not like I was jealous or anything! Because I wasn't!

I mean, I wasn't the _only_ one who got fed up with their relationship fast!

"I _hate it _when she gets like this about guys." Lily complained during lunch one day. She pointed her fork at Evie and Sirius, who were snogging at the end of the table. "It's so annoying. But I mean… its Siriusand its Evie. One of them is going to get tired of the other one fast, right?"

Sirius and Evie's makeout sessions became increasingly difficult to stomach. And okay, maybe a lot of it had to do with the fact that I was the teensiest bit jealous… but just a teensie bit! Well, I _did_ see him first! Christmas dinner at the Black household, ten years ago. We were six, and he threw mashed potatoes at me and Cissy, but it still counts.

One thing I couldn't help but wonder; did we kiss and _then _he and Evie started dating? Or did we kiss after they started?

Honestly, I hoped it was the latter. Because somebody forming a relationship with someone else right after you kiss them is a little damaging to the self-esteem.

I kept telling myself that I'd look into it and find out exactly what was going on with Sirius that night. I kept saying that I'd talk to him, look things over, and see where we were. But Professor McGonagall had switched up seating arrangements, and I was now partnered with Lily, so that was out. During our other classes it seemed like too much of a public thing. Throughout the rest of the day he was always either attached to Evie's face or goofing off somewhere with his friends.

Plus, I was nervous.

What exactly would I say? Every one of the scenarios that I had thought up before didn't factor in Evie. What would I do now?

"Hey Sirius! You're going out with Evie? When did that happen? After we snogged? Really? So you mean that we made out and immediately after that you found someone else? So, is there something wrong with me? Am I a bad kisser? Do I smell funny? I'm not really _that _bad at Transfiguration! Is it because I was in Slytherin? Am I not pretty enough? What's wrong?!!"

Or perhaps it would go like this:

"Hey Sirius, about the other night, Saturday, when we sort of hooked up? Yeah. Well, were you dating Evie then? You were? Oh Merlin, you cheated on Evie with me? Seriously? You're a cheater! And now I'm a… a cheateé! How could you do that? Dammit! She likes you so much! You're such an asshole!"

I saw no alternatives.

My mind was temporarily shifted away from the Sirius/Evie debacle when Cissy finally (_finally!_) talked to me.

It sure took her a while. What a terrible excuse for an ex-best friend.

"You've made a mistake." She told me, after she grabbed my arm and pulled me aside after dinner. Her voice was flat, but there was some kind of pleading in her eyes. "You think you're so bloody _cool_ don't you, hanging with those Gryffindor kids? Well, Emma, you were one of _the _Slytherin popular girls! What would make you want to give that up?"

I sighed. "No, I never was one them, Narcissa. _You _were. I was always just… with you."

She looked like she was about to contradict me, but I guess she realized I was right.

"Well… fine, maybe that's true, but you still shouldn't be associating with those

Gryffindors! It's so… not… _dignified_."

"Hey, Narcissa," I jutted in rudely, "still shagging Lucius Malfoy? He sure has been here on a lot of 'official ministry business' lately."

Aaaaaand I had touched a nerve. She looked away and chewed the inside of her cheek while absentmindedly tapping her fingers on her arms.

Wait… when she got like _that…_

"You aren't still shagging him?" I cried, suddenly a concerned friend. "What the hell happened?"

"He never talks to me!" she wailed, "He'll pull me into a broom closet or grab my ass now and then, but that's _it_. We don't have real conversations, and he never even owls me anymore. I feel so…so…"

"Used?" I offered

"Yeah. Used."

"Cissy, I really hate to say it, but I warned you. I warned you about him." I lowered my voice. "Did he ever, you know, join up? With the Death Eaters?"

"Yeah." She said quietly.

I gave her a hug. "I'm so sorry."

"I tried to talk him out of it Emma, I swear," she told me, all of her cool demeanor gone. "But he wouldn't listen! He said that I didn't know what I was talking about, and I was just being a stupid girl. And now whenever I bring it up he says I sound like a blood traitor… he says I sound like you…" she trailed off. "I'm sorry." Dabbing her eyes with the sleeve of her robe she finished, "I try, but I still can't get over him."

I gave her a hug. "I don't care, it's fine, I'll _always _be your best friend. No matter what."

"Evan joined too." her voice was almost a whisper, "That's why he dropped out this year. His dad is one, and thinks he has better things to do besides finish his NEWTs."

My eyes widened and my mouth opened and I thought I had to have heard her wrong. "What?" I whispered, "_Evan_?"

She gave me a sad smile. "I know you didn't want to give up on him, but it was inevitable really."

Evan, Evan _Rosier_, had actually done it? I was at a loss for words.

"Well," I finally said, "I guess it really is over between us this time."

Cissy and I hugged goodbye, promising each other that we would talk now and then. I wasn't sure if the promises were empty or not, but it felt good to say them.

I was taking the long way back to the Common Room, through a quieter and empty part of the castle, when suddenly I heard a voice drawl:

"So, you had a chat with my cousin."

I yelped in surprise and spun around, whipping my wand out defensively.

Oh. It was Sirius.

He stared at the expression on my face and the wand in my hand and doubled over laughing.

"Shut up," I stowed my wand back in my pocket while scowling. "You came up behind me, out of nowhere, it freaked me out!"

"Yeah, okay. Jumpy." He smirked

"I'm not jumpy!"

"Oh you are _so _jumpy."

"I'm- wait… You're actually talking to me!"

"Yeah, so?"

"_Yeah, so_," I imitate him. "Black, you haven't spoken a word to me in two weeks."

"Oh, please. It's only been like, _a_ week."

I rolled my eyes. "Evie was gushing about your two week anniversary three days ago." I reminded him.

He grimaced. "Oh. Whoops… ok, I guess it's been a while."

"So," I crossed my arms. "So, what about your cousin?"

"Narcissa. You were talking to her."

I shifted my wait uncomfortably, but tried to keep cool. Which is really difficult for me around Sirius. "And how would you know that?"

"You underestimate the power of passageways behind tapestries."

"Ah."

"So, what, you're friends with her again?" he asked irritably

"What does it matter? You get all mad about me being friends with your friends, but then I can't be friends with the people you don't like either?" I lashed out at him, "What do you want me to be, some social outcast?"

He took a step closer and told me in a quieter tone, "Emma, I don't care who you're friends with." He sighed. "As long as it's not people like Cissy. Sure she's a nice girl at heart, but my family has some pretty heavy issues."

Oh, I know about his family's issues. Alcoholic dad, anal retentive mother, his brother absolutely desperate to please his parents. Bellatrix-the-nutjob and Cissy who surrounds herself with people who she _knows _won't appreciate her and will hurt her, and then her parents who are so devoid of emotion it's a bit frightening.

And then Sirius, the rebel, the blood traitor, the _Gryffindor_. Even Andromeda Black (or Andromeda Tonks, as Cissy told me her new last name is), who's name you never hear anymore, was in Slytherin.

Of course, I don't say any of this out loud. Because I bet right then he was thinking of all the issues _my _family has. There aren't many secrets in the world of purebloods. It's not like people are open with each other- oh no. But they do love to gossip.

"Issues." I repeated. And then I smiled a little bit. "Yeah, well we're purebloods. 'Issues' kind of just comes with the package."

"You know what happened, that one night, with the party…" he completely changed the subject, and I wasn't sure if I liked where it's headed. I realized that in the time we'd been talking we'd moved very close to each other.

I hadn't been that close to Sirius in ages… I was aware of how warm my face was gotten, and I was positive that he could hear my heart beating. "Don't worry about it." I stammered, "I was being stupid, it was all just in the moment. It didn't mean anything. And you're with Evie now, so it's fine,"

Obviously, it was _not _fine, which he probably picked up on when my voice wavered and cracked at the end of my speech. But I had never wanted him more than I did in that one moment. Standing in the dimly lit corridor, with his dark brown hair a little bit too shaggy, his sleeves rolled up and showing toned Quidditch arms, his body so close I could feel the heat radiating between us- I wanted to tackle him and rip his clothes off.

"Are you lying?" he asked quietly, looking me right in the eyes

"Of course I'm lying." I stated, and before the words were even all out of my mouth, he grabbed me and started kissing me full on. This time it wasn't awkward, and I was barely self-conscious; everything about his lips and his body pressed on mine felt so right, I blocked out any other thoughts. As he pushed me up against the wall and started kissing me down my neck, I didn't even remember the fact that he was dating my sort-of friend and had been a total prick lately.

All too soon, he drew back and groaned. "Oh Jesus, we're probably _related_."

His sudden statement really killed the mood, but then I laughed as I remembered that he was Narcissa's cousin. "Do you know how much time Cissy and I spent pouring over our family trees, hoping to find some connection so we could say we're family?" I circled my arms around his neck and pecked him on the lips. "It's only by marriage."

He chuckled. "_Purebloods,_"

We snogged for a few more seconds before he pulled back again. "Is it the Carrows?"

I shook my head. "Yaxleys."

"Oh, I _hate _the Yaxleys!"

"Me too! Aunt Gretchid smells like cabbage soup and she looks like a penguin!"

His eyes lit up. "I always said that to Regulus!"

Upon hearing this I grabbed him and kissed him so furiously he staggered back a bit.

As I came up for air I explained, "My brother always told me that the penguin thing was stupid."

Who knows how long later, when we finally made it to the portrait hole (our way there was hindered by one of us periodically shoving the other one up against a wall and us snogging each other senseless) it finally dawned on me that there was still another girl in the picture.

"Oh my God, Sirius," I grabbed his arm as he was about to pull the portrait open, "what about Evie?"

I had just made out with her boyfriend. Oh my God. This was bad. So bad.

He froze and rubbed his forehead. "Oh man. Evie. Well that's a problem… I don't really know. Um… you and me will…. talk… later… don't tell her." he pulled the Fat Lady open and quickly clambered in, without even a glance back at me.

This boy was _really _starting to piss me off.


	9. Chapter 9

"Where've you been?" Perry asked me when I came up into the dormitory.

"A walk." I said immediately, trying to and failing to sound innocent. "Just a walk, about the castle, you know. I looked at… paintings."

She gave me a funny look. "Okayyy then. Well, I have an idea," she lowered her voice as she plopped herself down next to me. "Tomorrow night is the full moon, yes?" she had a mischievous look in her eyes.

"Um, yeah, it is. Why?"

She beamed. "Our potion, _hello! _The color changing one, we're _finally _going to beat James, Sirius, Peter and Remus! They won't know what's hit them! I did a bit of research in the library -I know, right?- and found out about a few plants that actually physically change during the full moon. Some magic shit, I dunno, but I think if we pick them tomorrow we can use them!"

I stared at her. "You want us to go out, into the Forbidden Forest, in the middle of the night?"

"Uh-huh."

"To get herbs?"

"Yep."

"So we can finish the potion you and Layne want to make so you can wave it in front of the boys' faces?"

"Yeah, that's basically it."

I groaned, knowing there was no talking her out of this. "Do you even know where these plants _are_?"

"Uhhhh... no. But I know what they look like!"

"Fine." I sighed, "Let's do it."

It would be no big deal, right? Getting back into the castle might be kind of hard, but it would be light enough with the full moon. The forest wasn't _so _awful….

**

"I can't believe we're doing this."

Layne's anxious voice broke the silence of the empty corridor as she, Perry and I hurried down to a doorway we knew could get us out of the castle.

"Shut up, Layne," Perry hissed

"But… but how are we getting out of the castle?" she asked, her franticness and volume increasing a notch

Perry rolled her eyes. "The side door that _everyone always uses_."

"But Filch has caught on! He'll be patrolling it!"

"He can't be everywhere at once. And we'll be quiet." Perry assured her. "It's fine- just a little bitty Forbidden Forest run."

The grounds of Hogwarts at night are creepy, to say the least. Every shadow, every tree moving in the breeze, every snap of a twig we stepped on was a teacher coming to get us or some monster coming to eat us.

When we finally reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest, even Perry was beginning to lose her nerve.

"Come on guys, it's not like we've never been in here before!" she said brightly, but her smile looked a little forced

"Sure we've been in here… in broad daylight." I said dryly

"Oh psh, big difference." The shakiness in her voice made it quite apparent that she did in fact, think there _was _a big difference. Taking a deep breath, she said, "Let's do it."

None of us moved an inch. We stood there, peering into the blackness of the forest, when a cloud moved away from the moon and I noticed a flower spreading it's petals to soak in the light.

"Hey, guys," I said, walking closer to it. "I think I found one."

After that, we found a little bush of another kind of the plants Perry had looked up a few meters into the woods. We weren't exactly sure what part of it to take, so Perry uprooted the entire bush and stowed it in her basket.

The more time we spent in the forest, the less daunting the task of finding these plants became. Once you knew where to look, they weren't all that difficult to find.

Despite the fact that it was the Forbidden Forest and nighttime, after a while it wasn't all that scary anymore. The only things in the outer parts of the Forest were squirrels and birds, so we decided to just enjoy the night.

We ran around and joked around and sang the Hogwarts school song over and over again at the top of our lungs.

"_Hogwarts, Hogwarts, hoggy warty Hogwarts,  
Teach us something please,  
Whether we be old and bald,  
Or young with scabby knees-" _

AOOOOOOOHHHH!

A long, piercing howl from nearby cut us off.

We all stopped where we were on looked at each other nervously.

Layne shut her eyes and let out a long stream of curses under her breath while I tried to remain calm. "It's probably nothing you guys, just… dogs. Or wolves."

We were silent for several moments, and then it seemed to click at the same time for all three of us: Howling. Forbidden Forest. Full moon. Wolves….

"No," Layne breathed. "Oh bollocks, oh shit, oh shit, oh God," and she recommenced her string of cursing

Suddenly, we heard a growl. All three of us shrieked and spun around, ready to defend ourselves when-

"A dog?"

That's what it seemed to be. It was huge black and shaggy, but hardly sinister looking, and definitely not the werewolf we had been dreading.

"Hey there, cutie!" Perry gushed. I hit her arm.

"Don't! We're in the Forbidden Forest, it might be something dangerous!"

The dog seemed to respond to my comment by baring its teeth and growling again. We all backed away, and it started barking and running at us. Naturally, we screamed and ran in the opposite direction.

"Is it chasing us?" I shouted

"Yeah!" Layne shouted back

We ran and ran until we saw lights ahead of us, and we broke out into the grounds of Hogwarts.

Panting, we collapsed on the grass.

"What happened to that dog?" I asked, looking around for it.

It had disappeared.

"Well, that was _weird_." Perry stood up. "Uh… back to the castle?"

"Good plan."

Evie was still going on with her nightly "Sirius did this today!" speeches, and I was becoming increasingly infuriated with the both of them.

Sirius wasn't avoiding me this time, but our conversations were always short or including other people. Not once did he mention the fact that we had snogged (and snogged and snogged and snogged…) the other night, and he and Evie continued to express their love everywhere from the common room to broom closets to empty classrooms to classrooms in _use_.

I wanted to be able to talk about it with somebody, and rant about what a prat Sirius was, but the only people I could think to tell would either tell Evie immediately or coerce me into coming clean to her. So I kept it to myself.

I poured all of my energy into school work and figuring out our potion, which was becoming increasingly difficult to make. We had no idea how to test it, since even if it _did_ go rightwe weren't sure how to cure it, and definitely weren't keen on the idea of walking around with multicolored skin and hair.

I tried to block out Sirius and Evie, and succeeded so well that I had no idea their relationship was actually in trouble until one morning when Evie refused to come to potions.

"I'm not getting out of bed." She whined. "I'm not talking to him!"

Apparently they'd been fighting.

I truly felt bad about the whole thing, and the fact that I'd managed to come between them

…Although, really; how could I have resisted his those sulky, charming, dangerous good looks? Fathomless grey eyes, that expressed all of his emotion; a fantastic, toned Quidditch body; always smelling fantastic even though he didn't wear cologne; plus a really, _really _great jaw line.

I was an idiot for getting involved.

By that afternoon's Charms, Evie and Sirius seemed to have made up, because they were snogging in the back corner.

"That's disgusting," Layne commented, nudging me and gesturing to them. I didn't say anything, but she continued, "I mean, look how far his hand is up her skirt! They aren't doing their work, can't they just find some other place to make out?"

"Yeah. Really." I agreed, and silently told myself not to be jealous.

It was the next day that Sirius cornered me again. I was on my way back from the loo, and he was strolling down the corridor.

"Doherty," he nodded.

"Black." I tried to keep my poker face on as he strutted closer to me.

"You've barely been talking to me." He accused playfully

"_I_ haven't?" I exclaimed, "You haven't been talking to _me_!"

He shrugged. "I guess it depends on the point of view. But I _do_ miss having you as a partner in Transfiguration...."

"You miss making fun of me and scoffing at my inabilities?" I raised my eyebrows.

He looked offended. "I never scoffed! Maybe _commented_, but I think I was fairly polite, considering."

I rolled my eyes. "Right. Well, what do you want this time?"

He reached out and twirled a lock of my hair, a mischievous half-smile on his lips. There were just inches between our faces. "I don't like things being awkward between us."

"Huh. Have things between us ever been comfortable?"

"Well, you seemed pretty _comfortable _the other night." He smirked

My heart was thudding against my chest and I could hardly breathe, but then I came to my sensed and batted his hand away. "Girlfriend?" I reminded him

"Right.." He sighed, almost like he had forgotten. I wondered if he actually _had_. "Well, I guess I'll see you around,"

He walked away, but it was in a way like he expected me to race after him and jump up and kiss him like I had before. I wanted to, but I didn't.

"Good." I told myself, "You didn't let your stupid hormones get in the way. Just let him go, he has a girlfriend and he's a git. Stupid, unnaturally gorgeous, git."

Oh dear. I was actually talking to myself.

***

A few days later, we had a Charms lesson that consisted of learning a slightly dangerous little spell that (somewhat) safely caused objects to explode. When the lesson was over, things had undoubtedly gotten out of hand and the room was covered in debris and rice from the bean bags we'd been practicing on.

"Oh dear," Flitwick squeaked, "This is quite a mess. Er, Miss Doherty, Mr. Black, if you wouldn't mind staying behind to clean up? I need to dash down to a meeting."

The class filed out, and Sirius and I were left alone in the room. The world must really hate me.

It was painfully silent, and when he finally said something it wasn't what I expected.

"Thanks for not coming after me the other day." He muttered as he picked up an upturned chair.

"What do you mean?" I asked

"Oh, you know. In the hall, when we were talking. I shouldn't have done that, thanks for not going with it."

"Oh." I said, surprised. He looked completely sincere. "Er… why?"

He sighed. "I guess me and Evie should just try and work things out. I can't go chasing other people. I know there was that one time, and that other time, but we should really just be friends."

"Just… friends." I repeated

"Yeah. I mean, we can do that right?" he asked hopefully

I nodded. "Sure, definitely. Friends."

He waved his wand and the last of the splintered debris disappeared. "Well, I guess I'm off to lunch. See you later, Doherty."

Honestly, I had no idea how me and Sirius could be friends; our relationship had so far only been fighting and snogging. I barely even knew what we had in common. But it was worth a shot, right?


	10. I swear this story isn't dead!

Hello to all my lovely, loyal readers!

I know it's been a long, long, longgg time since I've updated. But this story is living on. I'm currently rewriting it, and you can find the link to the new version here:

fanfiction. net /s/7127497/1/bShift_b#  
(remove spaces)

Read it! I know I'm not that far in, but it is a bit longer, more filled in, and in my opinion, written better (After all, I am older and wiser). Soo... let's go!


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